Day 4: Astorga to Rabanal del Camino

An easier day today. Left Astorga at 8:45AM and arrived in Rabanal del Camino at 4:45PM with lots of stops in between. The third day of long-distance walking was uncharted territory for us and we did surprisingly well.  The fatigue level in my legs seemed to have reached the peak last night followed by rapid recovery by this morning. More importantly, the reddish swelling in Chisoon's also has significantly improved after oral antibiotics were started.

As our hotel in Astorga was located on the west end, moments after we walked out of the hotel, we were outside the medieval walls. If this was a race to leave the city first, then we would have won handily, but it did not matter since, again, everyone seems to pass us along the way.
We felt pretty confident about the day's itinerary and did not feel rushed. After only an hour's walk, we stopped at the first town, Murias de Rechivaldo. It was mainly to use the facilities, but I realized that in the last three days, the pattern for stopping and having meals has all been different, and we were happy to let the given circumstances guide us spontaneously. Our only sin, of course, is to have booked all hotels even before leaving home.

At this first stop, we had a pleasant conversation with a delightful family of six from Denmark. I thought it would be difficult to coordinate the walk for a relatively large group like that, but amazingly they have done the Camino a few times already. I guess the availability of reasonable airfare within Europe and inexpensive food and lodging on the Camino makes this an attractive option for Northern Europeans who enjoy the sun while keeping in shape, regardless of their religious or spiritual status. After we exchanged jokes about the fact that they were drinking beer early in the morning, we would run into them twice more the rest of the day, and yes, they were drinking beer every time! It was also a pleasure to talk soccer, a chance to display my, ahem, extensive European football knowledge.



An early stop for some Leche Caliente

We next stopped at Santa Catalina de Somoza, a town partially in ruins which supposedly possesses a relic of San Blas who I don't know much about except it is the name of the island chain inhabited by Panamanian indigenous tribes which we have visited. The "Somoza" does not refer to the Indian snack, but is of the Latin origin meaning "under the mountain." Indeed, past the next town El Ganso, the route ascends the last 7 km. We ran into a German couple who started the walk in their hometown nearly three months ago and have covered 1,500 km. That's only about 20 times we have walked. How come they did not start in St. Petersburg, Russia, for God's sake!



The Danish six-some arriving at Santa Catalina



One of the houses not in ruins in Santa Catalina

 

 



Equal time: Buddhist prayer flags stand out among the long stretch of crosses made from tree branches pilgrims have placed near Rabanal

 

 

Rabanal is a charming town with attractive houses along its Calle Real.
At dinner, we sat next to an Englishman who did the entire Camino Frances (and Camino Norte) last year. It rained many days on the Camino last April so he is seeing a lot of things for the first time. But his plantar fasciitis is acting up and yet he would not call ahead to reserve lodging or use luggage transfer service because he is "too proud." We wished him the best of luck on the rest of the way and I encouraged him to take ibuprofen he brought but never used.



A stone church and hollyhocks, Rabanal

 




Rabanal Main Street: kids anywhere these days do not pose normally